If we adopt a dog or meet a stray dog and decide to give it a home, we will need to know how old it is in order to provide the most appropriate care for its life cycle. Since puppies need care very different from that of a middle-aged or elderly dog.
With these simple tips you can easily know how old your dog is, regardless of its size or breed. Thanks to this, you will be able to take care of it as it deserves by providing it with an adequate diet for its age and adequate care.
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Index of contents
- 1 How to calculate age in puppies and young dogs
- 2 How to know if our dog is adult or old
- 3 Other signs that can help us calculate age
How to calculate age in puppies and young dogs
Denture is without a doubt the best way to find out the approximate age of a dog without the help of a veterinaryn, since in reality veterinaryns also use these same techniques to determine the age of dogs.
If our dog is a puppy and still does not have teeth in its mouth, it means that its age is around one day to fifteen days old. During this cycle they do not have teeth since they are in the process of formation.
From fifteen days to a month of life, puppies develop incisors and fangs. The incisors are the small teeth that form between the upper and lower fangs. If the puppy only has these teeth, we know that its age does not exceed one month of life.
From the first time of life to the third month of life, our puppy will develop all its baby teeth. They are characterized by being very fine and also weak, since they are teeth without roots. They are colloquially known as needle teeth, since due to their thinness and how sharp they are, they can stick into our hands like small needles (when we play with our dog).
From three to eight months of life, our dog will begin to pull out the baby teeth, replacing them with its permanent teeth. These are thicker, bigger and harder, and their color will be much whiter and brighter.
From eight months of life to twelve months of life, the dog will have completely made the entire transition from milk teeth to final teeth, wearing a perfect and wear-free denture.
As you see, calculate the age of a dog young or puppy is very simple if you look at his teeth. It is impossible to determine an exact age but we can get very close.
How to know if our dog is adult or old
Specifying the age of an adult dog is more complex than when it comes to a young dog or puppy, but we can get a good idea based on the dog’s teeth, wear and other physical aspects as well.
Dogs that are one to three years old show perfect teeth with slight wear on their incisors (the incisors are the teeth between the fangs). His incisors will gradually wear down until they acquire a smoother shape, without appearing so sharp.
From three years of life to six years of life, the wear of the incisors becomes much more noticeable, acquiring a more square shape. The fangs also begin to wear down, acquiring a more rounded and less sharp shape, although this does not mean that they are weak.
From the age of six, his teeth will wear considerably, losing some teeth or showing tartar if the dog is being fed with feed (commercial food, croquettes). We will also appreciate spots on the truffle (the truffle is the dog’s nose) and obvious signs of old age.
Other signs that can help us calculate age
Not all dogs have the same life expectancy since while the small breeds have a half life of fifteen years, the large breeds have only a life expectancy of eleven years. This does not mean that they can not live longer, there have been cases of large dog breeds that have even reached twenty years of life.
However, that does mean that large breed dogs age faster than small breed dogs. So the following symptoms will always be more noticeable in large breed dogs than in small breed dogs, even if they are the same age.
- Appearance of gray hair: Dogs over the age of six begin to show gray in their muzzles, turning their hair white over the years. However, small breeds begin to show gray hair later, from the age of eight normally.
- Hair shine It loses over the years, which also leads to the appearance of gray in the rest of the head and body.
- Dog energy It wanes over the years, while when they are puppies and young they are very energetic and playful, when they become adults and enter old age they prefer to walk quietly and not have too much hustle and bustle.
- The appearance of diseases as the osteoarthritis in dogs It normally occurs in elderly dogs, whose joints have been aging with them.
- The tranquility At general levels and with rare exceptions, older dogs rarely look for trouble. They acquire a calm and respectful aptitude because they know that they are vulnerable.
With all the information provided, you can get a clear idea of how old your dog is, in order to give it all the attention and care it deserves.